---
title: 'Silence means security: A wise Old Owl sat in an oak'
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owl-silence-means-security-1943/
description: 'Security poster: a wide-eyed brown owl on a branch at night, its body covered by a large orange oak leaf carrying a rhyme ending ''Soldier . . . . be like'
section: Collection
---

1. [Home](https://propagandaarchive.org/)
2. [Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)
3. Silence means security: A wise Old Owl sat in an oak

[![Silence means security: A wise Old Owl sat in an oak, 1943 US poster: Security poster](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owl-silence-means-security-1943.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/owl-silence-means-security-1943.jpg)

# Silence means security: A wise Old Owl sat in an oak

Security poster: a wide-eyed brown owl on a branch at night, its body covered by a large orange oak leaf carrying a rhyme ending 'Soldier . . . . be like that Old Bird!', over a blue band reading 'Silence means security'. The technique is faint; the owl's reputation for wisdom is lent to the request to say little.

## Propaganda techniques used in this poster

[Transfer](https://propagandaarchive.org/techniques/transfer/)

## Text on the object

Original (English) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
A wise Old Owl
sat in an oak
The more he saw
the less he spoke
The less he spoke
the more he heard
Soldier . . . . .
be like that Old Bird!
★ SILENCE MEANS SECURITY ★
[imprint: W. D., A.G.O. "OWL" SECURITY POSTER]
[imprint: U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1943--O--514854]
```

[← "I'm conserving wool, this bathing suit's painted on." (undated, c. 1942-1945, OWI)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/owi-shows-conserving-wool-painted-on-bathing-suit-1943/) [Plant a Victory Garden: Our food is fighting →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/plant-a-victory-garden-our-food-is-fighting-1943/)

## More propaganda examples that use the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)